Have you ever shopped for a therapist before? It builds a lot of empathy for our clients. Just get on any directory and look for an issues such as anxiety or depression and read through the profiles of the therapists listed.

How do you choose?

After awhile your eyes might glaze over at the repeated statements of years in the profession, technical terms of types of therapy used and the conditions treated. But then, someone stands out. Someone resonates with you. How does that happen?

They have a clear message.

The message you put out into the world should connect with a personal intimately and create a resonance that makes you stick in their mind which leads them to picking up the phone to reach out for help. You want to compel people to action.

So how is that done?

Your message needs essentially 3 components.

Know your audience. You want to know who you are speaking to. How you speak to a parent of a child with ADHD is going to be different than how you speak to a man that is struggling with an addiction. The language will just look different.

Know their pain. You also want to address their pain points. Be creative and tell a story. When you try speak to everyone, you get a message that targets people who are “struggling with depression.” That doesn’t tap into the pain of having depression. What is it like for them? Nothing feels fun anymore. They sit with their partner, unable to express really how dark it feels for them. Your message is an opportunity to say “hey, I get you!”.

Know your value. Lastly, you want to be able to share how you help. I don’t want you to just say, I provide counseling to help. Really talk about what sets you apart. Therapists are creatives at heart, thus our community is so diverse. No one can replicate the relationship you build with your clients. It’s one of my favorite aspects of this work. So share what it is like to work with you.

Put it all together. Who is the person + what is their pain + how you help = an amazing message.

You can go from “Hi, I have over 20 years of experiences working with women and depression. I help using CBT and brief therapy,” to “My clients come to me because they are struggling with a depression and feel like they are trapped in a darkness that no matter what they have tried (and many have tried therapy before) they can’t pull themselves out of the mire. My clients leave, empowered, with specific tools that reshape how their brain works. My clients understand themselves in ways no one has ever taught them before and thus begin to find the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Now you try.

Make three columns on a sheet of paper. Label each column with one of the components of your message. Write lists of sentences describing each column and then combine a sentence from each column to come up with several messages. Start circling the ones you like and believe are most clear and use them in your marketing.

See what changes in your message and share one of your messages below!